Tokyo Friendfinder
Most of us long-time Japan hands probably catch a few zeds on any train ride over about ten minutes, but what about that age-old problem of knowing where to get off?
Solo iPhone programmer (by night, financial recruiter by day) Warwick Pearmund has a techy solution in the shape of his new GPS-based Wake Me Shake Train Alarm app.
The $2.99 bilingual gem (which should work in any country on any ground-based mode of transportation, BTW) is the essence of high-concept – just tell it the station where you want to get off and how far out it should start trying to wake you up.
When the app senses you’ve hit the mark – the default distance from destination is 500m – the iPhone alarm kicks in and off you go tottering onto the platform.
Well, that’s the theory – Warwick makes no claims to be able to rouse you if you’ve indulged a little too heavily in the festive spirit at the 忘年会/Bounenkai/Christmas party.
Although Wake Me Shake Me may seem a bit silly at first, the thought of a costly cab ride home after the last train has dumped you in the sticks or sleeping on a cold, hard station bench for an hour until Tokyo wakes up makes it an obvious steal.
Wake Me Shake Me [iTunes link]
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06:04 PM 
Mark Hiratsuka •
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iPhone | Japan | Transportation 
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iphone
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